The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Broadband communication networks are provided by network operators for communications between user terminals or between a user terminal and a service provider. In a conventional broadband communication network, a user has to request and order bandwidth and an access method from a network operator in advance through a network administrator. While intending to access the network, the user needs to send a request for accessing the network in the access method ordered in advance. The access method includes Asymmetrical Digital Subscription Line (ADSL), optical fiber access, General Package Radio Service (GPRS), etc. Having accepted the request from the user, the network operator configures the network to allocate the bandwidth ordered by the user to the user and the bandwidth is the maximum bandwidth which the user may occupy while accessing the network, i.e., the maximum usable bandwidth. When the user is connected to the network, the network usually no longer controls the bandwidth allocated to the user and the bandwidth always remains unchanged unless the user requests to access the network again or to change the access method.
In a communication network, in order to improve the network resource utilization ratio and Quality of Service, a network access device, such as a multi-service bandwidth access server providing access, authentication and charging functions for users, usually controls the traffic entering the communication network. Therefore, in practical applications, the bandwidth allocated to a user usually changes with the network conditions and the distance from the user to the access server. Generally the bandwidth of a local Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) is broad and able to support higher local access traffic while the bandwidth from the MAN to the interface of the Internet is usually narrower than the bandwidth of the local MAN. The traffic expresses the maximum traffic in unit time, i.e., bandwidth, therefore the traffic control in unit time means bandwidth control. Hence, it can be seen that if the user bandwidth is not controlled, conflict may occur during bandwidth allocation or the bandwidth resources allocated to the user can not be sufficiently utilized.
Further, the user needs different bandwidth for different services. For example, when the user enjoys an online streaming media service, the bandwidth needed will be broader than the bandwidth needed for browsing a normal web page. Furthermore, different services have different requirements in realtime performance, e.g., online streaming media requires a high realtime performance and is sensitive to a delay, while some services including a download service require a moderate realtime performance and broad bandwidth. Obviously the user wishes that different bandwidth may be allocated for different services with different bandwidth demands. If the network does not control the bandwidth occupied by different services, the quality of some services may drop sharply and a proper network resource utilization ratio will be hard to achieve.
The existing network access devices usually control the bandwidth in two ways. In the first way, the bandwidth is controlled based on users, i.e., different bandwidth limits are allocated to users having different bandwidth authorities; in the second way, the bandwidth is controlled based on the combination of a data origination address and a data destination address. Both the two ways control the overall bandwidth only based on users or based on an access method and/or an address instead of the bandwidth for different service types or different services of a user or an access method and/or an address. Therefore although the two ways for controlling bandwidth have satisfied the basic requirements of different services, they cannot achieve actual effective bandwidth control or effectively improve the network resource utilization ratio. For example, when a mobile terminal user accesses the network with a bandwidth of 24 KB through the GPRS, the bandwidth of 24 KB shall be shared by all services of the user over the GPRS, and there is no way to control the bandwidth allocated to a specified service.
To sum up, the bandwidth control mechanism in the conventional broadband communication network is still far from satisfactory and cannot control bandwidth in accordance with the features of different services over the communication network, therefore the Quality of Service may not be guaranteed and the network resource utilization ratio is kept low in the conventional broadband communication network.